Believe it or not, Nigerians are not buying ebooks...
Because I’m not William Shakespeare?
No!
Because I’m not Chimamanda Adichie or Nnedi Okoroafor or Onyeka Nwelue or Kiru Taye or Helon Habila or Myne Whitman?
No, no, no, no, no and no!
Let me tell you the reason:
Nigerians are not buying ebooks because of the oshofree mentality.

Because of the OSHOFREE mentality
Oshofree na chop-no-pay.
Oshofree is when you eat without paying.
Oshofree is when you download almost all the songs on Psquare’s, M.I’s, Olamide’s, Wizkid’s, Chidinma’s, Iceprince’ or Flavour’s album for free instead of buying the album on the streets. Chai! No wonder Naija artistes don’t depend on album sales like their American counterparts.
Oshofree is when you want to read an ebook for free instead of buying it for as low as $1. That’s TWO HUNDRED AND SOMETHING NAIRA!
Haba! Nigerians too like free things. Hehehe... Forget that I’m laughing o! It’s not funny. It’s affecting me personally. How? You may ask.

How it’s affecting King kObOkO
Ok, let me use my book “The Legend of INDIA VS NIGERIA” for example. The book is on Amazon Kindle, Lulu, Okadabooks, Smashwords and I’m even selling it independently via Gumroad. The problem’s not that its not selling o! My sales statistics show that Americans, Britons, Indians, Ghanaians and South Africans are buying it. I thank God for that. Or are the buyers actually Nigerians living in those countries? I still thank God. The problem is that only very few Nigerians living inside Nigeria are buying it. Many of them are begging me on Facebook to offer it for free so they can download and read it. Imagine!!! Nigerians eh!!!

If you doubt me, go to Okadabooks and observe the oshofree mentality of Nigerians there. Check the number of downloads for free books versus the number of downloads for books for sale. That’s when you’ll clearly see what I’m talking about.

Nigerians abroad versus Nigerians in Nigeria
You may want to be a Thomas-ekwekwe and counter my argument by saying that Chimamanda Adichie, Nnedi Okoroafor, Onyeka Nwelue, Kiru Taye, Helon Habila and Myne Whitman are all selling. Yes! I gree. Them dey sell. But I have some questions for you:
Question 1: Where are these successful Nigerian authors living? Are they based in USA, UK and India? Or are they based in Nigeria?
Question 2: Who is buying their ebooks? Is it foreigners and Nigerians in the diaspora? Or is it Nigerians in Nigeria?

What Nigerians in Nigeria prefer
The bitter truth is that Nigerians in Nigeria would rather download an ebook for free than pay as little as N100 (hundred naira is not even up to half a dollar). Don’t even argue that Nigerians are poor o! The same poor Nigerians spend money to subscribe for the data that they use for browsing and downloading. Don’t also argue that Nigerians don’t read. The same Nigerians buy and read pirated copies of Things Fall Apart, Half of a Yellow Sun, Bottled Leopard every day. They buy and read second-hand Harlequin, John Grisham, James Hadley Chase, Sidney Sheldon books every day.

Is it that Nigerians in Naija are too scared to use their ATM cards to pay for ebooks because of the fear of yahoo boys? I don’t know. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that Nigerians prefer paying for hard copies and paper books to paying for soft copies and ebooks.

It’s hard to sell the preferred hard copies and paper books through Lulu or CreateSpace because of the expensive cost of shipping it to the buyer in Nigeria. Worst of all, it’s harder to publish it locally as Nigerian-based publishing houses are quarter-to-dead, dead o’clock or half-past-dead. Hehehe...

E no easy to be a Naija-based author, wallahi. God help...

“Wait! So what’s the solution King Koboko? What do you advise us to do? What do you advise aspiring Nigerian authors to do?” I hear you interrupting me now. Relax! I’m coming. As I was saying, God help us. Say amen.

Self-publish ONLINE and OFFLINE
It’s simple.
Stage 1: Self-publish your work online so that foreigners and Nigerians abroad can buy it.
Stage 2: Self-publish it offline too so that Nigerians in Nigeria can buy it. Self-publishing offline means that you’ll spend at least N180,000 to locally print at least 1,000 copies of your book and market it vigorously by yourself.

My brothers and sisters in the writing world, I hope I’ve been able to convince you and not to confuse you that self-publishing both online and offline is the way forward. But no vex o! Your boy King Koboko’s still saving money to carry out stage 2 of his own advice. Hehehe...

Shhh... Don’t tell anybody: I still secretly wish that an international publisher will come and offer me a publishing contract. *winks*

Soo right

Soooo True.... this has to change tho..... I know I am ready to pay as much as 1000naira for a very good read from people like prettyspicey and larrysun


Cc:lalasticlala, ishilove

JeffreyJamez:
Soooo True.... this has to change tho..... I know I am ready to pay as much as 1000naira for a very good read from people like prettyspicey and larrysun

Hmm.

So sad really

I am very guilty of this, not because I don't want to pay but because it's free everywhere and I can download it. There a a gazzilion apps and sites to get these books.

However there are books I hsve paid for online which I couldn't get for free. It's pretty cheap though.

I also had to actually order hard copies of some books too. So if it's free I take, if I want it bad enough I pay.


All the same free things are cool.

Not encouraging at all.....

Am guilty of this.... the reality is if am dying to read a book I am always ready to buy but what would I do when I get it for free online??

Authors should stop this act of having free e books online,that would stop the act of downloading free e books.
The books are not even expensive online...

Lemme confess my sins here..I am 200 percent guilty as charged.Heck!with the rate at which I read fiction and non fiction books,I just opt for a free copy..And yes,I am always scared of dropping my mastercard details online to buy books..I no fit shout abeg.Oga author,I think there is a way of ensuring your books are not gotten for free..Easy!Make sure it is only hard copies.At least I can't remember when last I walked into a bookstore,yet I have 2015 new releases ebooks all gotten for free online.I respect TD jakes publishing house for that..You can't get his books to download online.

queenfav:
Lemme confess my sins here..I am 200 percent guilty as charged.Heck!with the rate at which I read fiction and non fiction books,I just opt for a free copy..And yes,I am always scared of dropping my mastercard details online to buy books..I no fit shout abeg.Oga author,I think there is a way of ensuring your books are not gotten for free..Easy!Make sure it is only hard copies.At least I can't remember when last I walked into a bookstore,yet I have 2015 new releases ebooks all gotten for free online.I respect TD jakes publishing house for that..You can't get his books to download online.

1: Ur penance is 2buy my book. *winks*

2: T.D Jakes already has an audience 4 his books na. Ur advice wud b suicidal 4 an unknown up-and-comin author o!

Rick9:
Nice but the government is to be blamed I think so.

Govt? Hmmm... I no sure shaa.
Besides aren't we d govt?

I recall when I wanted to buy a copy of the all nigerian recipes ebook from amazon..when I did the calculation,the criminal author was selling it for 6k..the thing vex me eh..I searched for it and got it on a blog for free..so no blame us.Times are hard!even adichie's books can now be downloaded free of charge.

Rick9:
Nice but the government is to be blamed I think so.

quite the blame

adaeze12345:

quite the blame

No mind am. i wonder how govt take enter this matter. Hehehe...

Things are changing. Th Trust issues with buying online is gradually improving. I think with this, Nigerians will start buying stuffs including ebboks. Also, you need to note that our payment system is getting better. Nigerians are now buying stuffs online because you don't need to use your ATM Card to shop, with bank Transfer and USSD, customers can now pay online.

If you are looking for a Platform to Self Publish your Work, check out King Domain Publishing

https://kingdomain.com.ng/sell-e-book/